September 2011

I went North to look at and coordinate work on a condominium we own in Maryland. The previous tenants didn’t care how they left it. As I walked through I wondered more than once if they knew where to buy cleaning products. How can anyone treat someone else’s property like that? It was somewhat painful to see. I was in tears more than once.

But I do think that with a few coats of paint, new carpet, flooring, new appliance and cleaning it will be ready for real caring tenants to rent. I will engage a rental agent to check on it on occasion. The difficulty was the distance. It will be worth having a local company who will manage it for us. We have a good amount of equity in it and we’d like to keep it for a while longer.

Other than that. I visited with a lady who has lived on the second floor since we first bought. She is a delight and has her son living with her now. He’s probably my age and had been through a bad divorce and was unemployed for a while. He is as nice as she is and was very helpful in obtaining access to an inner storage area. The train ride both ways was, as always, interesting and fun. I made a new friend who I hope will call me and come see the farm. If not I can visit her at the local thrift shop in Southern Pines. I can imagine the nice things at a place like that! The people who donate to that thrift shop probably have the best things!

It is always great to be back home, isnt’ it? This is the fall season and I should be planting the winter garden next week. I hope to be back to blogging about real farm things. . . . thank you for bearing with me as I had this change of pace! See at the fence for our next “issue”!

but no. . . here I am blogging about things which are running through my head.
I got home from work today and checked e-mail and face book just like I do almost every day. I tried to go to one of my previously favorite blogs DMVs wife. But now one has to be invited to be a reader so I’ll never know what is going on in her life. . . . A few years ago her husband a local veterinarian was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was a way I’m sure of coping with the pain, illness from treatment and getting by from day-to-day. He was in remission after a few years. Maybe she felt it was time to make is a subscription. . . I don’t know I just am a bit disappointed that I can’t visit someone I thought of as a neighbor any more. . . I guess this is a lesson that the virtual world is not as different from the real world as I thought. . . . . The new “normal” is all about security.

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since America was attacked by madmen. . . My sisters and I had celebrated our oldest sisters birthday in NYC on the 1st of Sep nearly two weeks prior. . . . I was concerned when she sent an e-mail telling me to get to a phone as quickly as possible. . . . she mentioned a plane and the Twin Towers. . . I figured it was a small one which had mistakenly flown off course.

I was able to get to a television just a minute before the second plane hit the other Tower. Some of you know who I work for and I was working there that day. . . . The military post was in shock and some folks scrabbled to secure the base. We tried to work, but were glued to events as much as we could afford to be. Once the day ended we knew that our world had changed and not for the better. . . . It was nearly impossible to get to work the next day.

But we have adjusted to the new “normal” until things change again. . . . We have since purchased this farm and moved from a gated retirement community to a rural patch of land. We can grow a bit of our own food and be a little less dependant on others for our sustenance.

We were not touched directly by the attacks on 9-11, but we will always remember what those jihadists started. . . They should be aware that although we don’t have the strongest leaders now, America is still the same country. . . . we will stand together against criminals such as those. We will always remember those we lost and the bravery of those who survived.

Things on the farm don’t change as quickly as in the “big” city. . . and of all things which are, our God is always the same. . . . Our relationship with Him is the most important thing which can be. . . . It should be our focus and all will be well. . . .

Bloggers Prayer

Lord help me to learn to spell without spellcheck,
manage to visit all that visit me,
and post regularly -
all in 5 minutes a day,
so that I can clean house
and take care of my family.
Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post,
and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well.
Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life.
And help me dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
~The Dust Bunny Hostage